User reviews

Four ladies from Balllygar, Ireland join a travel group going to Lourdes hoping for personal miracles to happen. That's it in a nutshell, but on the other hand it says almost nothing about the substance of this warm and mostly gentle film. An exceptional cast (Maggie Smith, Laura Linney, Kathy Bates, Agnes O'Casey and many fine supporting players) leads the way. These four have a complicated mutual history the threads of which intertwine and finally resolve in unlooked-for mutual forgiveness which, if there is one, is the actual miracle. They heal each other, and that's the message.

Kathy Bates and Maggie Smith do their best with strong Irish accents -- though I was left wondering why native Irish actors weren't picked (maybe the producers just wanted the star power). You might expect that Maggie Smith would steal the show, as she can do with almost anything, but she turns out to have the restraint necessary to make this a true ensemble piece. And it's actually Chrissie (Laura Linney's part) who turns out to be the crucial role in the story. Enjoy.

The Miracle Club is a well-made movie about three generations of women coming to terms with the past. As part of their pursuit of healing from physical or emotional wounds, they take advantage of winning tickets for a journey to Lourdes, the beautiful city at the base of the Pyrenees Mountains. Many people, especially Roman Catholics, believe that miraculous healings take place at Lourdes. And our three women have high expectations that they will experience their own miracles.

The movie approaches the story with restraint, and it intimately explores the relationships between the women. Faith and forgiveness are solid themes; consequently, the tone is often sombre and reflective. But moments of humour and warmth peek through, avoiding excessive melancholy.

The best thing about The Miracle Club is the actors who portray the three women - Laura Linney, Maggie Smith, and Kathy Bates. These three seasoned actors never miss a beat. You can feel the chemistry between them. Their characters are well-developed and relatable, and each one of them gives an outstanding performance.

The direction makes the most of the intimate setting, and the musical score is understated but effective, adding to the sombre tone of the story. The cinematography provides stunning backdrops to the drama going on with the three women. The use of colour is subtle and effective, and the story moves along at a steady pace. The dialogue is well-written, natural, and feels authentic.

After watching The Miracle Club, I felt reflective and introspective. The movie's exploration of faith and healing was well-handled and made some subtle points about what it might mean to be healed in ways that were not miraculous but were more focused on forgiveness. Too many people look for miracles rather than focusing on their close-to-home relationships that, if healthy, can bring emotional healing. And sometimes, we need to accept that not everything can be rectified, and we need to accept what we cannot change.

The Miracle Club had the potential to tip over into saccharine and sentimental drama. But fortunately, this is avoided and is, overall, a well-made, well-acted movie with a solid plot and relatable characters. While it doesn't reach the level of greatness, I'd recommend it to anyone who loves character-driven drama and solid storytelling.

It seemed like one of those British feel-good, small scale, movies, that you know that will not sweep you of your feet, but you know that you are going to have fun. And this is exactly what you get, just with a large-scale actress, unlike the ones that has one or two old actors or actresses - now you get three and what an excellent choice of casting.

Its pretty known story about a woman that comes to her hometown after her mother passed away and starts opening closed doors from old and rusty closets from the past. She goes to a road trip with her mothers' old friends to a cause that her mother started and this time we are talking about a holy place in France, which Holly Marry was supposedly watched bathing or something.

Two old ladies and one young woman with a silent child are the supporting characters and almost all of them has a strong connection to the visiting woman and a big secret is about the raddle their reality and ordinary quiet lives. You can sprinkle a little bit religion issues and off course faith stuff and we are inside the heart of the movie and pretty quickly.

It doesn't have anything special as it goes for the script and the actresses doesn't give the one time show of their lives, but all together works good and even tries to get us of the regular movie mold and script limitations. It has some funny-bitter-sweet moments, heart breaking moments, that are not selling very well and it is pretty good.

None of the sub-genre of this movie doesn't represent properly. When it is funny, it is not funny enough and doesn't try to be very comic. When it is sad, it is hardly going to pull any emotion from you and it is not so good with drawing the audience into the heart of the plot, but somehow it manages to get out unharmed.

It is a movie that doesn't want to break the regular road of the script that tries to get to the desired result - give the audience what is expected from it. Just watching those epic actresses join forces together, but the fact they all settle for such a mediocre movie and script gives us hope for better results next time.

Beautifully acted film about faith and the ties that bind ... despite the secrets and lies.

An Irish parish is holding a talent contest and the winner gets a trip to Lourdes. Three friends are hoping to win but one dies before the contest. Her estranged daughter (Laura Linney) returns to the village after 40 years for the funeral.

She's met with resentment from her old friend (Kathy Bates) and her first love's mother (Maggie Smith). The women don't win the trip but end up going anyway and each one faces the limits of faith and love when they expect miracles to happen at Lourdes.

The star actresses are all terrific and make this film worth watching. Co-stars include Stephen Rea, Niall Buggy, Agnes O'Casey, and Mark O'Halloran.

The Miracle Club is a small movie about several ladies from Ireland set during the 1960's who win a pilgrimage trip to Lourdes in France. Maggie Grace, Kathy Bates, and Agnes O'Casey have great chemistry to come together in order to win a trip of a lifetime meanwhile Laura Linney returns home to attend her mother's funeral. Each of the ladies are looking for a miracle to either cure a physical ailment or to help with their emotional breakdown. These academy award nominated and winning actors were enjoyable to watch, the movie was well received with great direction and cinematography. Stephen Rea also joined the cast as Gates no good husband who took his wife for granted. I would definitely recommend this Thaddeus O'Sullivan film for the whole family to enjoy.

Laura Linney ("Chrissie") arrives back in the small Irish community of Ballygar following the death of her estranged mother. At that exact moment, there is a local talent contest going on and the prize is either a trip to Lourdes or a large bacon joint! Now three local women - "Lily" (Dame Maggie Smith); "Eileen" (Kathy Bates) and "Dolly" (Agnes O'Casey) want the trip so they can take the latter women's mute son "Daniel" (Eric Smith) to the shrine, they can all bathe in the waters, and hopefully the youngster will start to talk! It's a gently paced, if procedural, comedy this that allows each of the characters a few scenes to tell us of their woes before a denouement that isn't really a challenge for anyone - watching or acting. We deal with bitterness, misunderstanding, age-old opinions of sex and forgiveness as only an Irish storyline can. Along the way, Kathy Bates proves that she can knock out a tune or two, though I wouldn't give loads for Dame Maggie's backing singing, and the effort from the young, curly-haired, Smith is quite charming. Otherwise this is all just a bit too familiar. It looks charming though and shows us well just how celebratory and simultaneously toxic small community life can be - especially when fuelled by religion. It's worth a watch - the cast gel well, but it can wait til the television at Christmas.

Unusually positive movie of happy endings without becoming syrupy or preachy. Starts a bit slow and contrived, but becomes engaging after the bus to Lourdes departs and a web of hidden relationships and past sins are gradually are explained. Unusual film in that it displays almost an overdose of vivid Catholic imagery. Includes a priest who's a likeable, normal guy. Its portrayal of 1960's Ireland was a fascinating historical throwback. Irish accents were pretty thick. I wish I could have watched with subtitles on because I could not understand some key moments of dialogue. Based on others reactions in the theater, I don't think I was alone in this.

It's odd. "Miracle Club" has some really nice acting even though I must admit that the folks were mostly miscast. After all, it's a story about Irish women...and one is played by a Scot (Maggie Smith) and the other an American (Kathy Bates)...and they should have gotten Irish actors. But, considering everything, the story still works because although miscast, the actresses are terrific.

As for the story, it seems more like a backdrop or excuse to get these and several other lovely actresses together. It all is about pilgrimage to Lourdes in 1967 and follows the death of a woman...and her long absent daughter (Laura Linney) arrives for the service and the trip to Lourdes that follows.

This film is like a nice pair of fuzzy socks, a favorite robe and a comfy chair...nothing amazing but also very pleasant and sweet.

I came to see Maggie Smith and the rest of the cast, and I always love a story about Ireland, but the movie unfortunately seemed to work better on paper. It felt very flat, and they didn't do as much with the story as they could have. The plot dragged and wasn't developed that well, there was barely enough to stretch into the short 90 minute runtime. The cast did a good enough job with the material they had to work with, so it was still enjoyable enough to where I didn't want to leave, but not much more than that. It's a shame to get such a talented group of actors and give them so little to work with.

I wasn't sure what to expect from The Miracle Club, I just knew with a cast that included Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates and Laura Linley that I had to watch it. I was not disappointed in the slightest.

It is a lovely story about a friendship, past mistakes, love and forgiveness.

The casting is brilliant and as usual Smith, Bates and Linley give magnificent performances.

It tells the story of woman who returns to her home village after 40 years away, to attend the funeral of her mother whom she has not seen in all those years. She is met with hostility from her old friend and the mother of her long lost love.

It culminates with them taking a trip to Lourdes all in search of their own miracle.

I really feel honoured to have watched this film and really did not want it to end.

My family happened to come across "The Miracle Club" on Netflix. A fine little movie. It's about a group of women in 1967 Ireland who make a pilgrimage to Lourdes to see where a miracle allegedly happened in the 1800s.

What I really noticed was that while these gals were away, their husbands proved incompetent. Couldn't cook, couldn't clean, etc. The inevitable result of expecting your wife to do everything around the house.

It's not a masterpiece, but still a fine look at the Ireland of old. To think that it was only in my lifetime that the majority of the Emerald Isle advanced to First World status after centuries of subjugation by the British, and then being under the boot of the Catholic Church.

Worth seeing. The cast includes Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates and Laura Linney.

Kathy bates, laura linney, and the incredible maggie smith!! Major hollywood royalty! Three women from ireland (and a couple others) are off to the holy land of lourdes, in southwest france. The women all have their own issues, and reasons for going. Family dynamics. Friendships, honor, duty, promises made. Gab sessions, confessions, honesty, family secrets coming out. It's pretty good. It kind of chugs along. No huge, amazing story here, but it's fun to watch these stars work their magic. Directed by thaddeus o'sullivan. Was bafta nominated for "clark gable". There's an interesting page in wikipedia dot org on the history of lourdes, and why people continue to make pilgrimages there. Interesting stuff.

When circumstances in our lives grow burdensome, many of us hope for a miracle. In some cases, that aspiration is looked upon and anticipated as a literal possibility, one that can be banked on if certain steps are taken. For many of the world's Roman Catholics, that means making a pilgrimage to the holy shrine at Lourdes, France, site of a believed visitation by the Virgin Mary in 1858. And, in 1967, for the anguished residents of a small Irish town, that's just what they undertake in hopes of seeing their problems miraculously vanish. That premise provides the basis for director Thaddeus O'Sullivan's latest feature offering, which tells the story of three generations of women who make the journey to see their trials and tribulations lifted, some of which are physical, others of which are emotional and nearly all of which are familial or relationship-oriented. This delightful and touching comedy-drama is part road trip tale, part "buddy" film (even if that term doesn't always fit), and part saga of reconciliation, redemption and rebirth. It poignantly explores the process of making our own miracles rather than relying on outside influences, as well as learning and understanding the true meaning of faith and forgiveness. Admittedly, the film takes its time getting started (and perhaps a tad too long at that), and some of its story threads come across as somewhat schmaltzy, predictable and overly "tidy." However, it has a definite edge to it, too, especially in its incisively biting humor, pointedly and expertly delivered through the superb performances of its principal cast members, most notably Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates, Laura Linney and Stephen Rea. Some may look upon "The Miracle Club" as something of a lightweight offering, but its heart and intents are decidedly in the right place, making for a generally enjoyable watch, particularly as a piece of family fare. Cynics may find much to criticize here, but I believe that's patently unfair, considering the sincerity of its messages and earnestness of their delivery. So, in light of that, give this one a fair shake - you just mind find a few miracles of your own come from it.

I wasn't sure what to expect but it turned out to be a very pleasant way to pass time on a flight. I truly enjoyed the interaction between the lead characters and the plot was truly different enough to hold my interest. Kathy Bates, Maggie Smith ,Laura Linney were delightful. I was going to see more of the Irish countryside. Having recently been there I was hoping to see more of the beautiful countryside. I often choose movies based on where they are filmed so I can reminisce about trips that I had taken. Even though there was a bus trip in this movie we didn't really get to see much of Ireland. It's not an action movie, nor thriller, not superheroes, not laugh out loud funny but I'd recommend this if you're looking for a simple, uncomplicated, light drama, movie to watch with good performances. A lovely way to spend an afternoon- or flight time.

Director Thaddeus O'Sullivan has fashioned a small-scale Irish film that feels as familiar as an old shoe. This 2023 dramedy marks Maggie Smith's last film, and while the role doesn't take much advantage of her sharp-witted feisty persona, her poignant work here serves as a fitting reminder of her enduring legacy. Working alongside Kathy Bates and Laura Linney, she plays Lily, a small town wife and mother living outside of Dublin and still mourning the death of her son forty years earlier. Bates plays her best friend Eileen, herself a wife and mother of six, who fears she may have breast cancer, while Linney plays Chrissie, the estranged Boston-based daughter of another close friend who just passed away. Lily and Eileen, along with their much younger friend Dolly and her inexplicably mute son, convince the local priest to fund a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, as they seek miracles for their medical ailments and long-held crises in conscience. Because the movie was in turnaround for over twenty years, the actors are far too old for their chronological roles, but it's the kind of pixilated movie where age doesn't matter. That's due to the expectedly fine work from Smith, Bates, and Linney, as well as Agnes O'Casey charming as Dolly, the only one of the four leads with a real Irish brogue. Stephen Rea shows up in two brief scenes as Eileen's curmudgeonly husband.

We really thought we would like this, and really WANTED to like it, but this is just not a good movie. Others have mentioned the bizarre casting of people 20 years too old for their roles, and the fact that they used an American actor (Kathy Bates) and an English actor (Maggie Smith) to play Irish women. Kathy Bates at age 70 was supposed to be the mother of a brood of young children, including one who was about 10. Laura Linney was supposed to be her cousin and childhood best friend, though Linney looks far younger. We spent a lot of time trying to figure out who was who because it didn't make sense. Once we put aside the age problem, we focused on the movie itself and were disappointed. There were elements that on their own were good, but they just didn't come together. There were also some odd things that didn't make sense but would be spoilers if we mentioned them. And other things that were left out, like what had Laura Linney been doing in America for 40 years, and why did she seem to have some medical knowledge? In the end, it was a big disappointment and frustration. But we really, really TRIED to like it.

In life we all look for hope and one day we look to see a miracle happen. That is what this movie is really all about. The casting is the best for a story like this.

I am so tired of super hero movies and movies focused on murder and horror or whatever you want to call them. This movie deals with real life issues and these kind of movies are hard to find these days. But when one like this comes along with excellent acting and a superb script it's worth a 10. It does not mock your hope or your faith. Please see this movie because you will not regret seeing it . In fact you might shed some tears.

What a most depressing film. What was billed as a comedy has such a sad storyline for all characters it is a tale of unfolding sorry through decades of family history

Maggie can have such a great fry sense of humour and it is this that we most anticipated but it is absent in this film.

The story looked good from the outset - comedy and Lourdes - what a great mix for an entertaining story.

It is unfortunate to see Maggie's talents underused in this tale and so it is one which cannot be recommended for viewing as a comedy.

It is more akin to a drama although a remake could change this into a hilarious tale.